MMASucka staff picks are already a twelfth of the way through in 2020. Crazy! Early tomorrow morning, January 31, will see ONE Championship: Fire & Fury go down from the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. The event will begin at 4:30am ET (1:30am PT) on the ONE Super App and various social media platforms with the main card kicking off at 7:30am ET (4:30am PT) on Bleacher Report Live.
The Fights
Strawweight gold is on the line in the main event between current champion Joshua Pacio and challenger Alex Silva. After coming up short to Yoshitaka Naito for the belt in 2016, Philippines’ own Pacio would avenge the prior defeat two years later by unanimous decision. Yosuke Saruta would capture the belt right away in his next bout; however, he would avenge yet another opponent with a vicious fourth-round knockout last April. Pacio now looks to back up a recent title defense over Rene Catalan two months ago. His opponent, Silva, also comes as a former belt holder of the 125-pound division with his title win over the aforementioned Naito. This would be his lone peak as champ, suffering two losses to Naito and one to the also aforementioned Saruta. A successful rebound would cap off his 2019 with two second-round armbars over Jakarta’s Stefer Rahardian and former wrestling champion Xuewen Peng.
A thrilling co-main event is in store as Eduard Folayang and Pieter Buist are set to scrap in the lightweight division. Former champion Folayang hopes to find victory in front of his home-country crowd for the second time in two months while Buist looks for an eight straight win in his third ONE FC fight. Folayang was originally set to take on Ahmed Mujtaba until a withdrawal forced Mujtaba out for a third straight time with the promotion.
See the remaining fights for ONE Championship: Fire & Fury further below.
Staff Picks
Throughout the year, staff picks will be composed of five different MMA promotions. UFC, Bellator, ONE, and RIZIN all appeared for the 2019 season and will make returns. The newest addition for the 2020 year will see the PFL including their regular season, playoffs, and championship card. A special staff picks bonus will be introduced and discussed regarding PFL’s playoff format as time gets closer.
Main cards will makeup both UFC and Bellator picks, while the biggest fights to make up ONE, RIZIN, and PFL events will be used. The WINNER of staff picks will have a choice between receiving a championship belt from ProAmBelts or a championship chain from Championship Chains. The 2019 winner was awarded to Michael DeSantis, compiling a record of 321-178. Second-place Connor Deitrich collected a close score of 319-180 with third-place Ed Gallo not far behind totaling at 312-183.
Check out our staff picks for ONE Championship: Fire & Fury below.
Staff Records after Bellator 238:
1T. Wesley Riddle: 17-2
1T. Michael DeSantis: 17-2
3T. Jeremy Brand: 16-3
3T. Connor Deitrich: 16-3
5T. Ed Gallo: 15-4
5T. Dan Rose: 15-4
7T. Mitchell Banuelos: 14-5
7T. Matt Bricker: 14-5
7T. Andrew Benjamin: 14-5
10T. Frazer Krohn: 13-6
10T. Ashwin Viswanathan: 13-6
12T. Ash Camyab: 12-7
12T. McKenzie Guardiero: 12-7
12T. Mike Lynch: 12-7
15T. Mike Skytte: 10-9
15T. Ryan Hobbs: 10-9
17. Nate Freeman: 10-5, missed one card
18. Jeremy Cook: 3-1, missed three cards
Won IL Kwon (8-2) vs. Shoko Sato (34-16-3, 1 NC)
Jeremy Brand: Sato via UD
Wesley Riddle: Sato via UD
Mike Skytte: Sato via Round 1 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Sato via Round 2 TKO
Mitchell Banuelos: Sato via UD
Ed Gallo: Sato via UD
Matt Bricker: Sato via UD
Connor Deitrich: Sato via Round 2 TKO
Ash Camyab: Sato via UD
Ryan Hobbs: Sato via UD
Andrew Benjamin: Sato via UD
Frazer Krohn: Sato via UD
McKenzie Guardiero: Sato via UD
Dan Rose: Sato via Round 1 TKO
Mike Lynch: Sato via UD
Ashwin Viswanathan: Sato via Round 1 TKO
Nate Freeman: Sato via Round 2 TKO
Staff picking IL Kwon: 0
Staff picking Sato: 17
Danny Kingad (13-2) vs. Xie Wei (5-2)
Jeremy Brand: Kingad via Round 1 SUB
Wesley Riddle: Kingad via UD
Mike Skytte: Kingad via UD
Michael DeSantis: Kingad via Round 2 SUB
Mitchell Banuelos: Kingad via UD
Ed Gallo: Kingad via Round 3 SUB
Matt Bricker: Kingad via Round 2 TKO
Connor Deitrich: Kingad via Round 1 TKO
Ash Camyab: Kingad via UD
Ryan Hobbs: Kingad via Round 3 SUB
Andrew Benjamin: Kingad via UD
Frazer Krohn: Kingad via Round 1 TKO
McKenzie Guardiero: Kingad via UD
Dan Rose: Wei via Round 1 TKO
Mike Lynch: Wei via UD
Ashwin Viswanathan: Kingad via UD
Nate Freeman: Kingad via UD
Staff picking Kingad: 15
Staff picking Wei: 2
Eduard Folayang (22-8) vs. Pieter Buist (16-4)
Jeremy Brand: Folayang via UD
Wesley Riddle: Folayang via UD
Mike Skytte: Folayang via UD
Michael DeSantis: Folayang via UD
Mitchell Banuelos: Folayang via Round 2 TKO
Ed Gallo: Folayang via Round 2 TKO
Matt Bricker: Folayang via Round 1 TKO
Connor Deitrich: Folayang via Round 2 TKO
Ash Camyab: Folayang via Round 1 TKO
Ryan Hobbs: Folayang via Round 2 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Folayang via Round 2 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Buist via Round 2 TKO
McKenzie Guardiero: Folayang via Round 3 TKO
Dan Rose: Folayang via Round 3 TKO
Mike Lynch: Folayang via Round 1 TKO
Ashwin Viswanathan: Folayang via UD
Nate Freeman: Folayang via UD
Staff picking Folayang: 16
Staff picking Buist: 1
Joshua Pacio (18-3) vs. Alex Silva (9-4)
Jeremy Brand: Silva via Round 3 SUB
Wesley Riddle: Pacio via UD
Mike Skytte: Pacio via SD
Michael DeSantis: Pacio via UD
Mitchell Banuelos: Silva via UD
Ed Gallo: Pacio via UD
Matt Bricker: Pacio via UD
Connor Deitrich: Pacio via UD
Ash Camyab: Pacio via Round 1 TKO
Ryan Hobbs: Pacio via UD
Andrew Benjamin: Pacio via UD
Frazer Krohn: Pacio via UD
McKenzie Guardiero: Silva via Round 2 TKO
Dan Rose: Pacio via UD
Mike Lynch: Silva via Round 1 TKO
Ashwin Viswanathan: Pacio via Round 4 TKO
Nate Freeman: Pacio via Round 1 TKO
Staff picking Pacio: 13
Staff picking Silva: 4
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